pylon

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A steel tower supporting high-tension wires.
2. n. A tower marking a turning point in a race among aircraft.
3. n. A large structure or group of structures marking an entrance or approach.
4. n. A monumental gateway in the form of pair of truncated pyramids serving as the entrance to an ancient Egyptian temple.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In architecture, a monumental gateway to an Egyptian temple, or other important building. The pylon was sometimes a single structure, in outline resembling a truncated pyramid, through which the passage for the gate was pierced, but was more typically a combination of two such truncated pyramidal structures, connected by a lower architectural member, in which was the gate proper. They were usually covered with elaborate decoration in sculpture, together with hieroglyphic inscriptions. Often used synonymously with propylon. (Compare propylon.) Various forms of the pylon are used as hieroglyphic symbols. That shown in the cut stands for On, the Greek Heliopolis.

Wiktionary

1. n. A gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple
2. n. A tower-like structure, usually one of a series, used to support high-voltage electricity cables.
3. n. aviation A structure used to mount engines, missiles etc., to the underside of an aircraft wing or fuselage.
4. n. An obelisk.
5. n. A traffic cone.
6. n. American football An orange marker designating one of the four corners of the end zone in American football.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A low tower, having a truncated pyramidal form, and flanking an ancient Egyptian gateway.
2. n. An Egyptian gateway to a large building (with or without flanking towers).
3. n. A tower, commonly of steelwork, for supporting either end of a wire, as for a telegraph line, over a long span.
4. n. Formerly, a starting derrick (the use of which is now abandoned) for an aeroplane.
5. n. A post, tower, or the like, as on an aerodrome, or flying ground, serving to bound or mark a prescribed course of flight.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a tower for guiding pilots or marking the turning point in a race
2. n. a large vertical steel tower supporting high-tension power lines